4:52PM: Alain Vigneault said today that Nash is trying his best and has to focus on tonight and not worry about what has happened or not happened in the past six games. (NY Times)

4:45PM: James Duthie said on The Brian Hayes show today, “he does stuff but he doesn’t do anything. You watch him and he isn’t playing awful, he does the odd thing but it never ends up in the back of the net. He was such a controversial pick for Team Canada and Babcock loves him as a checker and he was a great checker in that tournament bu to pay that guy that money to be a third line checker. It’s not a year now, you can’t say it’s a bad year, it’s ridiculous, he isn’t a playoff performer. We keep saying that he is going to show up one of these days but maybe he isn’t, maybe he isn’t a playoff performer. That has been a massive disappointment for the Rangers, remember how we talked about that for four months after it was clear he was going to be traded…they got a good package for him but again, good player, every coach would like to have him but score…score a big goal to win a game.”

Duthie adds, “there is still time, it’s not like he is an old guy but at some point you need to produce.

1:16PM: Ray Ferraro said on Leafs Lunch today, “this is my pet peeve when I watch players. I was an undersized guys, I see someone who is 6-4 and 230 and he rushes it over the side wall and takes his shot from there? If he cuts to the net and he is almost unstoppable.”

Ray adds, “there is no anger to his game and you don’t need to be slashing guys but you need some passion or anger and he doesn’t display it. They brought him in for the playoffs. Dom Moore has two in this playoffs. They pay him $7 million. I don’t see how you can see that and think that what you are doing is right. He isn’t even close.”

11:34AM: Nash tells Larry Brooks that he is trying his best and trying his best to help the team win but the puck isn’t going in, “so of course it’s frustrating…it’s very frustrating. (NY Post)

Last night, Nash had 2 shots on goal, 2 shots that were blocked and one that missed the net. He played 16:38 including 4:40 on the PP and 22 seconds on the PK.

Brooks says that if you look around the league, the top players for teams are stepping up and Nash needs to do that for the Rangers. (NY Post)

4/29/14| Rick Nash enters game six with one goal in 17 playoff games for the Rangers and Alain Vigneault said yesterday that he is “due.”

Vigneault said that he is getting opportunities, working real hard and that he and the team have confidence in Nash.

Fillip Bondy writes that Nash has been the greatest disappointment for the Rangers in the playoffs and that expectations for what Nash is and can be should be lowered. (Daily News)

Nash is second on the team in shot attempts with 36, behind Brad Richards’ 41, and is tied for the team lead with 23 shots on goal. (ES)

When Nash is on the ice, the Rangers control 57% of the shot attempts, which is first on the team. (ES)

Derek Stepan, Nash’s center, thinks that Rick will “find a way to do it” (NY Times) and called him an “elite player.” (NY Post)

Stepan said that it’s tough to generate offense in the playoffs but Nash has a way of creating space for himself and is bound to find the back of the net. (NHL.com)

After game one against the Bruins last year, before Nash scored his only goal as a Ranger in the playoffs, John Tortorella said that Nash was “close,” played well against the Capitals game seven and was expected to be a big part of the Bruins series.

Adam Rotter: Like the first round last year, the Rangers can, and probably will, get past the first round without a tremendous contribution from Nash. But also like last year, they probably won’t get out of the second round of the playoffs unless Nash turns his cold streak into a hot streak. He is “due” but he has been “due” before, as have other players, and still not scored. Nash, at least to me, hasn’t been bad but being a strong penalty killer and creating space for others are things that Brian Boyle does. Those things are part of Nash’s game but he is a scorer and was brought in to play that role and hopefully do it in the playoffs.

Saying that a guy is "due" sounds a lot like saying he's entitled to goals because of who he is and how he's scored in the past (in the playoffs that would be exactly two goals for Nash). I don't feel as though he's "due" anything except a pat on the back for his pretty good penalty killing.

Nash hasn't been terrible in this series. I've seen certain other bloggers around the web bash fans for bashing Nash. I haven't said anything negative yet about the guy, but eventually Nash has to score, plain and simple. Nash doesn't needs to be playoff MVP, but he needs to chip in with some goals. Showing some fire on the ice like he did in our last game against Columbus wouldn't hurt either.

He can be a great PK guy, he can take as many low percentage shots as you want, but if he's not scoring then he's being paid way too much and he's not doing what he was brought here to do.

Let Moore and Boyle be great PK guys. Nash has to score goals, and that's the bottom line.

I have to disagree with the coach and players, I don't think he's due. He's not getting the chances you want to see your game-breaker get. It looks like Nash is afraid to get into the tough areas, or take control of a play and go around 3 players to get to the net like he used to. Either he's become afraid, he's injured, or he's just not that great anymore.